YouTube CPM Rates in India by Niche (2026): Complete Breakdown

CPM (Cost Per Mille) is what advertisers pay YouTube per 1,000 ad impressions. RPM (Revenue Per Mille) is what YOU actually earn per 1,000 views after YouTube takes its 45% cut.

For example:
- If your niche has a CPM of ₹100
- YouTube takes 45%, so your RPM is roughly ₹55
- If you get 100,000 views, you earn approximately ₹5,500

RPM is always lower than CPM because:
1. YouTube takes 45% of ad revenue
2. Not all views generate ads (ad-free users, regions with low ad inventory)
3. Some viewers skip ads before they count

Focus on RPM — it's your actual take-home per 1,000 views.

Here's the actual CPM range for Indian YouTube channels in 2026:

| Niche | CPM Range (₹) | RPM Range (₹) | Monthly Earnings at 1M Views |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Finance | ₹80-200 | ₹40-110 | ₹40,000-₹1,10,000 |
| Insurance/Credit Cards | ₹100-250 | ₹55-140 | ₹55,000-₹1,40,000 |
| Technology | ₹60-150 | ₹30-80 | ₹30,000-₹80,000 |
| Education | ₹50-120 | ₹25-65 | ₹25,000-₹65,000 |
| Business/Startup | ₹60-140 | ₹30-75 | ₹30,000-₹75,000 |
| Health/Fitness | ₹40-100 | ₹20-55 | ₹20,000-₹55,000 |
| Motivation | ₹30-80 | ₹15-45 | ₹15,000-₹45,000 |
| Cooking/Food | ₹25-70 | ₹12-40 | ₹12,000-₹40,000 |
| Gaming | ₹15-50 | ₹8-28 | ₹8,000-₹28,000 |
| Entertainment | ₹10-40 | ₹5-22 | ₹5,000-₹22,000 |
| Comedy | ₹10-35 | ₹5-20 | ₹5,000-₹20,000 |
| Music | ₹8-30 | ₹4-16 | ₹4,000-₹16,000 |

Key insight: Finance channels earn 5-10x more per view than entertainment channels. Creating 'boring' niche content is often far more profitable than chasing viral entertainment.

CPM is driven by advertiser demand. Niches where the audience has high purchasing power attract bigger ad budgets:

- Finance/Insurance — Brands like HDFC, ICICI, PolicyBazaar pay premium rates because one customer is worth ₹10,000+ in revenue
- Technology — Samsung, Apple, Flipkart compete aggressively for tech-savvy buyers
- Education — Byju's, Unacademy, and coaching institutes have massive ad budgets
- Entertainment — Lower CPM because the audience is broader and less targeted

Other factors that affect YOUR specific CPM:
1. Audience geography — Indian viewers earn less than US/UK viewers
2. Audience age — 25-45 year olds have higher CPM than teens
3. Watch time — Longer videos allow mid-roll ads (higher CPM)
4. Season — Q4 (Oct-Dec) has the highest CPMs due to festival advertising

Actionable strategies to increase your earnings per view:

1. Choose a high-CPM niche — Even a small finance channel earns more than a large entertainment channel per view
2. Target 25-45 age demographic — Adjust content topics to attract viewers with spending power
3. Make videos over 8 minutes — Enables mid-roll ads, which can double your RPM
4. Optimize for Q4 — Create more content in Oct-Dec when ad spend peaks
5. Add affiliate links — Supplement ad revenue with product recommendations
6. Build email list — Own your audience for direct monetization
7. Create Shorts + Long-form — Shorts drive subscribers, long-form drives revenue

With FluxNote, you can quickly create short-form content that drives subscribers to your channel, increasing your long-form video viewership and ad revenue.